RYAN NEWMAN RETURNS TO USAC SILVER CROWN FOR SATURDAY’S HOOSIER CLASSIC

By: Richie Murray – USAC Media

Brownsburg, Indiana (August 12, 2021)………After a two-year hiatus from USAC Silver Crown racing, Ryan Newman will return to the driver’s seat for this Saturday night’s inaugural Hoosier Classic on August 14 at Lucas Oil Raceway in Brownsburg, Ind.

Newman will drive in the 100-lap, $12,000-to-win event for Johnny Vance Racing in a car being constructed by 2005 Night Before the 500 winner Michael Lewis.

During his full-time USAC career in the late 1990s, Newman was a force at Lucas Oil Raceway, then known as Indianapolis Raceway Park.  There, the South Bend, Indiana native won a total of six USAC features, five of which came behind the wheel of a midget and once in a USAC Silver Crown car during his championship season in 1999.

In fact, both of Newman’s first career USAC National Midget victory in 1997 as well as his initial Silver Crown triumph in 1999 came at Lucas Oil Raceway.

Following his USAC Silver Crown championship, Newman moved to the south where he’s been a regular in the NASCAR Cup Series for the past two decades.  His NASCAR Cup resume consists of 51 poles and 18 victories and includes wins in the 2008 Daytona 500 and the 2013 Brickyard 400.

Newman’s ride for Saturday night is in tribute to Vance, who passed away in 2017.  Vance was a USAC official, promoter and one of the winningest car owners in USAC history, earning three National car owner titles and 52 National wins.  Newman raced in the USAC National Sprint Car and Silver Crown Series for Vance during the late 1990s-early 2000s.

Saturday’s inaugural Hoosier Classic will feature all three open wheel divisions back-to-back-to-back under the Saturday night lights, concluding with a $10,000-to-win 50-lap Championship Sprint Car feature, followed by a $10,000-to-win 50-lap Browns Oil Champion Midget feature and the grand finale, a 100-lap USAC Silver Crown race paying $12,000-to-win.

Saturday’s schedule will have the gates opening at 11am Eastern, followed by the drivers meeting at 2:50pm; stands opening at 3pm; sprint car practice at 3:30pm; midget practice at 4:20pm; USAC Silver Crown practice at 5:10pm; sprint car qualifying at 6pm; midget qualifying at 6:45pm; Silver Crown qualifying at 7:30pm; and opening ceremonies at 8:05pm.

Main events get underway at 8:30pm Eastern, leading off with the sprint car feature followed by the midget feature at 9:15pm and the USAC Silver Crown feature at 10pm.

The 2021 Hoosier Classic trifecta will also feature drivers competing on The Oval at Lucas Oil Raceway for their shot at taking home a staggering $100,000.

The Fatheadz $100K Challenge is up for grabs to anyone that can win all three of the Hoosier Classic races (Sprint, Midget and USAC Silver Crown).  If a driver and team can win two of those three events, they will collect $50,000.

The addition of these prizes instantly elevates what was going to be the biggest payday in grassroots pavement open-wheel racing to now another stratosphere with a potential winner taking home a total of $132,000 for winning three big races over the course of one night.

Hoosier Classic tickets are now on sale at www.bit.ly/HoosierClassic.  General admission tickets are $25, with children age 12 and under free.  Pit passes are $35.

Friday’s Hoosier Classic tickets will be honored for Saturday admission, and original ticketholders will be contacted by the Lucas Oil Raceway ticketing team.  Camping will still open on Thursday, August 12.

The Hoosier Classic will be aired live on FloRacing at https://bit.ly/2ZpafUr.

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HOOSIER CLASSIC USAC SILVER CROWN ENTRY LIST:

02 TANNER SWANSON/Kingsburg, CA (Bowman)

06 BRYAN GOSSEL/Fort Collins, CO (Gossel)

1 KYLE O'GARA/Beech Grove, IN (SFHR)

2 PATRICK LAWSON/Edwardsville, IL (Lawson)

2v RYAN NEWMAN/South Bend, IN (Vance)

6 TYLER ROAHRIG/Plymouth, IN (Klatt)

7 KYLE ROBBINS/New Castle, IN (KR)

11 NATHAN BYRD/Goodyear, AZ (Hamilton-Byrd)

16 AUSTIN NEMIRE/Sylvania, OH (Nemire-Lesko)

18 TRAVIS WELPOTT/Pendleton, IN (Welpott)

22 BOBBY SANTOS/Franklin, MA (DJ)

24 MIKE HAGGENBOTTOM/Levittown, PA (Haggenbottom)

26 AARON PIERCE/Muncie, IN (Pierce)

31 DAVE BERKHEIMER/Mechanicsburg, PA (Berkheimer)

32 JOE LIGUORI/Tampa, FL (Williams & Wright Racing)

39 MATT GOODNIGHT/Winchester, IN (Goodnight)

40 DAVID BYRNE/Shullsburg, WI (Byrne)

42 JAKE DAY/Abilene, TX (Day)

51 RUSS GAMESTER/Peru, IN (Gamester)

55 TAYLOR FERNS/Shelby Township, MI (Ferns)

77 KODY SWANSON/Kingsburg, CA (Doran)

80 TONI BREIDINGER/Hillsborough, CA (Breidinger)

81 SHANE COTTLE/Kansas, IL (Williams)

91 JUSTIN GRANT/Ione, CA (Hemelgarn)

99 ERIC GORDON/Fortville, IN (Armstrong)

131 DEREK BISCHAK/Angola, IN (Bischak)

222 LOGAN SEAVEY/Sutter, CA (Rice)